Of Fire and Ice and Magic
by Akicks
Summary: Harry Potter's story has been told, but how did he get there? This is the story of the Marauders. Life at Hogwarts is about to get interesting when two transfer students arrive and begin stirring things up. The Marauders have met their match in these two.
1. Chapter 1

**Enjoy**

**Standard Disclaimer Applies...**

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><p>Chapter 1: Getting to Hogwarts<p>

Emerald Jasmine DeLavain sprinted at the wall between platforms 9 and 10 as if there was nothing in her way. She was late, as per usual, and her best friend Samantha Jade had already gone through.

Normally, nothing would have stopped her. She should have been able to run straight through the bricks and onto platform 9¾.

And she did.

It was the young man standing on the other side of the gateway that she crashed head first into.

Emerald, or Emry as she preferred to be called, said the first thing that came into her well-educated, very lady-like mind.

"Helvede. Scheize. Damn it that hurt!" she cursed rather ungracefully from where she found herself sprawled out on the ground. While her pureblood upbringing might have been all 'prim and proper', she had turned out anything but.

Emry cursed some more under her breath as she sat up, muttering a quick "sorry" to the back of the head of the poor boy who was now flat on his face, partially covered by her legs. Then again, it was his fault they were both on the ground in the first place. At least according to Emry.

A deep, cheerful laugh tore her eyes from the young man she had pummeled up to look at another young man standing over her. This one was almost doubled over he was laughing so hard.

"Wow Padfoot, never knew someone could swear in more languages than you! How many do you think that was?"

Emry, being who she was, took in the young man in a handful of breaths. Tall, shaggy black hair, thin face, plain hazel eyes that were hidden behind geeky looking round glasses, and a genuine smile that lit up his face. He was handsome, she noticed, and he seemed to have this confidence; strong minded with self-assurance that he was meant to be here and be seen. Cocky almost, but well-loved nonetheless.

Emry could relate to that.

Mutterings began to rise from the poor boy sprawled out under Emry's legs, which only caused the boy with the glasses to laugh harder. Emry tried not to roll her eyes, or broke out laughing herself. Regardless of what she had thought she had seen in him, boys could be so immature sometimes. She hoped, rather fervently, that she wouldn't have to deal too much with these two buffoons. They were bound to get her in trouble. It took her a moment, but Emry began to untangle her legs from the poor guys' arms. She was just about to haul herself up when the young man finally stopped laughing.

"Oh sorry," he said, reaching a hand out to help her up. Emry, usually a very independent woman, would normally have never accepted help up, but she could not for the life of her find a way to stand up without stepping on the other man's head. "It's not very often Sirius here is anything but charming with women." He said as he hauled Emry to her feet with ease.

Apparently there were quite a few muscles under his t-shirt, because it seemed effortless for him.

And then, Emry froze. Had she heard him right?

"You ok?" The young man with glasses asked her, waving his hand in front of her face to get her attention.

"Bloody peachy James, thanks for asking." Sirius muttered darkly as he hauled himself to his feet. As he dusted himself off, Emry got her first good look at the young Black she had heard so much about.

Tall, dark, and handsome were the first words that came to mind.

Charming, dangerous, and problematic were probably the next.

The young man was only a hair taller than his friend, probably two or three inches over six feet or so. He had long, shoulder length shaggy black hair, appropriate to his name, that looked perfect as it hung over his forehead and down into a pair of shocking grey eyes. He was handsome, in a rugged kind of way, with a charming smile and an athletic build. He looked like he could run all day and still beat the shit out of someone when he got there. Or play Quidditch. By the slight scar on his chin, though, it looked as if he had seen his fair share of fights too.

"Son of a mother humper!" Emry swore again, causing both boys to turn and stare at her in shock. "You have got to be shitting me!"

Sirius's jaw dropped a fair few inches, and James, after a moment of shocked silence, broke into another round of laughter.

"Will you marry me?" Sirius blurted out, causing James to stop laughing and both he and Emry to stare at Sirius in shock. "Any beautiful girl that can swear like a sailor would piss my mother dearest of immensely."

Emry was the first to break the shocked silence, letting out her own mirth filled laugh.

"No wonder he's friends with you. You all have the same twisted sense of humor, even if you're a little more vocal about it." She said as she gasped for air, laughing so hard she shook. The boys exchanged a confused look, Sirius shrugging his shoulder as he ran a hand through his perfect hair. "You had me worried there for a minute."

"Worried how?" James asked, still chuckling as Sirius just continued to dust himself off.

"That Remus would befriend a couple of buffoons." Emry said lightly, watching the confusion grow on both of their faces.

And then she saw who she'd traveled all the way from North America to see.

"Remy!"

* * *

><p>Remus had been walking around the station for the better part of twenty minutes looking for James and Sirius. As always they were late, or flirting with girls somewhere, or pulling a prank on some unsuspecting First Year, and he was trying to find them.<p>

As always, he was the voice of reason.

And as always, they were nowhere to be found.

Remus shook his head, his sandy blond hair settling in his eyes. James, Sirius, hell even Peter, were his best friends; brothers even. But after the summer he had just had, he couldn't help feeling like something was missing. Every summer, for as long as he could remember, he would spend a couple weeks at Camp.

Jade's Camp for the Children of Darkness.

Ok, so that was Remus' name for it at least; his and his two friends Samantha and Emry.

Two friends that his brothers didn't even know about.

Emry was, in a word, 'insane'. If he could use two words, he would say 'certifiably insane'. Eccentric, rambunctious, energetic; she was a handful, even compared to James and Sirius. But she was also loyal, strong, honest, and reliable. She was truly a great friend.

Then there was Samantha. She was smart, athletic, reliable, kind, beautiful, talented. In a word, she was 'perfect'.

Or 'unattainable'.

Remus shook his head again, this time trying to clear it of thoughts of his Canadian friends. Obviously now wasn't the time. He threaded his way through a group of Third Years, heading back to the gateway to see if they had just come through.

And then he heard James' laugh. It was a very distinctive laugh, full of enthusiasm and joy only possible with James' zeal for life. It was no surprise that half the girls at school were in love with James. Sirius' darker, more bark-like laugh followed a moment later. It was one of his less frequent, actually genuine laughs that Remus rarely heard any more. He pushed past another kid; a First Year that looked slightly lost, and then heard a voice that was definitely _not_ James' or Sirius'.

"Remy!"

Only three people called Remus that horrid nickname; Emry, Samantha, and his mother.

Before Remus could contemplate it any further, he found that a young woman had launched herself into his arms, her legs wrapping around his waist and laughing deeply.

It was the strong, bright laughter he recognized as Emry's.

Emry was here.

In his arms.

"Oh my god I'm so stupid." Emry cursed, dropping back to the ground, holding Remus at an arm's length. "What day is it?"

Remus could see the confusion in James' and Sirius' faces, but couldn't help laughing at his friend.

"September first." He answered, watching her do a quick calculation in her head as to when the last full moon was. When she realized it had been over a week ago she smiled and launched herself into his arms again.

This time he was prepared, catching her around the waist and spinning her around.

"What are you doing here?" He asked in a rush, putting her down so he could get a look at her; make sure he wasn't imagining her. As always, she was dressed in typical Emry attire; black knee high boots, short black shorts, and a skin tight white tank top. It contrasted in an eccentric way with her tanned skin and burgundy hair. Yes, burgundy hair. Emry had naturally black hair that was so dark it appeared blood red when the light hit it. "Is Sam with you?" He continued.

"Of course you'd ask about her." She answered with a wink. "And yes, though I seem to have misplaced her." Emry finished, taking a quick look around the crowd.

"If we might just interject," James called out, bringing both of their attention back to the confused boys. "Who the hell is she?" He asked, pointing to Emry.

Emry laughed again, but reached out to shake hands. "The name's Emry."

"And you are?" Sirius prodded. Though by the look in his eyes Remus assumed he was sizing her up, or just checking her out. Either was possible with Sirius.

"An old friend." Remus explained, glaring at the boys so that Emry couldn't see. It was a look that he hoped the boys would recognize. It was a common glare he used when he thought they should shut up. Not that they did very often. Sirius was obviously intrigued by Emry, which Remus decided he wouldn't warn Sirius that that was a bad idea, and James just looked confused. Even Emry shot him a look, though that one was probably at the implication of being an 'old' friend. He was just about to explain when he noticed James' eyes widen and heard Sirius curse under his breath.

"Bloody hell." Sirius muttered. "Who the bloody hell is that?"

Remus twisted around to see Lucius Malfoy standing over a beautiful young blond woman scowling, his wand drawn.

"That," Emry said, chuckling softly, "is Sam."

* * *

><p>Sam had been Emry's best friend since they were six years old, when Emry had found herself at Camp Jade, which just happened to be run by Sam's parents. They had been nearly inseparable ever since, even though they had polar opposite personalities. Emry was spontaneous, reckless, and adventurous while Sam was intelligent, loyal, and studious. Even in looks they were opposites. While Sam was slightly shorter than Emry, she was also built slimmer, more like a runner. Long lean legs and a toned body, it was evident she was athletic. But she was also very attractive. Crystal clear blue eyes and long curly blond hair, she was considered a real beauty. It was no wonder all the boys loved her. But everything had changed when Remus came. They'd met him a couple of years later when he began attending camp when they were nine, and then it was the three of them. Granted it was a strange relationship. Remus was head over heels in love with Sam, and vice versa, but neither would admit it, or act on it, driving Emry (who ended up playing referee) up the wall.<p>

And there Sam was, lying on her back staring up at a young man's wand pointed straight at her face. He was a stuffy looking young man, complete with impeccable robes and an air of wealth. In short, he looked like a spoiled brat. Long blond hair, plain blue eyes, average height but fit, yet Emry couldn't bring herself to be impressed with him at all.

"Malfoy." Sirius growled, pulling out his own wand. He and James took two steps forward, both angry and prepared, looking for a fight.

Malfoy. Emry had, of course, heard about him from Remus. He was the 'bane of my existence', according to Remus. To Emry, he just looked like an ass. But, he was messing with her best friend, so why not do something about it. Sam could take care of herself; Emry knew that all too well. But she could introduce herself, right? Wouldn't that be the polite thing to do? The proper thing to do? Yes, Emry would _introduce_ herself.

And have a little fun of course.

"Watch where you're going you filthy mudblood." Malfoy growled, kicking out at Sam's leg. "Ugh, my new robes. I'm going to have to burn these now. Why don't you pay attention?"

Beside Emry Sirius growled. Obviously none of these three thought much about Malfoy. In fact, the look on Sirius' face was purely venomous. She could see Remus watching her out of the corner of her eye, his eyebrow raised in a silent question. Emry smiled innocently back, knowing exactly what he was thinking. They might only spend part of their summers together, but they knew each other better than most.

"Oh relax Remy; I'm just going to introduce myself." She said with a smile. "It's not like I'm going to kill him or anything."

"Whoa what?" James snapped; his eyes wide. Remus shook his head and shrugged. "For real?"

Emry just rolled her eyes and began to walk away.

"Please don't do anything too stupid." Remus called out to her, causing her to turn around. She continued to walk backwards, so that she could wink; a bright smile on her face.

And she, purposely, backed into one Lucius Malfoy.

"Watch it." He snapped, shoving Emry away from him.

"Oh I'm so sorry. I'm new, and I guess I just wasn't watching where I was going. There are just so many witches and wizards here I must have gotten flustered." Emry said in a falsely cheerful voice; sickening sweet actually, but then she wasn't actually trying to be nice. "I'm Emry." She continued, holding out her hand for him to shake.

Lucius Malfoy glared at her hand, his face twisted up in a grimace that would have given a gargoyle a run for its money. It was with Malfoy glaring at her that she realized he wasn't alone.

Maybe she should have looked around first.

Just slightly off to his left, standing with her chest practically rubbing against his shoulder, was a tall but petite blond woman. Her scowl was only second to the woman's beside her. While the first was petite and blond, the second was tough, almost stocky, with black hair and horrifically thick black makeup. Emry dug around the back of her mind for a moment till she pulled out the right names. She had never met these two before, but she knew she'd at least seen their pictures somewhere before.

Narcissa and Bellatrix.

Also known as the Black Sisters.

And Sirius' cousins.

Or was it his sisters? She couldn't remember; not that it mattered all that much at the moment; Malfoy was still glaring at her.

"Filthy little mudblood bitch." He scathed, "I really don't care who you are."

"Oh I'm not a mudblood." Emry said, reaching the hand that she had held out towards Malfoy towards Sam to help her up from the ground. Malfoy glared again, as he steered the Black sisters away towards the train. Bellatrix hissed at Emry, spinning her wand around as she cackled almost insanely. Emry raised an eyebrow at her. Did she really just cackle?

Though insane was probably the best way to describe the psychotic witch.

Emry tried to ignore the crazy black haired witch and the blond stick-up-her-ass bimbo and focus on the spoiled pureblood thug in the middle, whose full attention had returned to her.

Shit, how long had he been staring her up and down?

"And neither is my friend here." Emry continued, trying to distract Malfoy whose attention had turned to her rather endowed chest. Sam stood, taking a stand slightly behind Emry, but where she had a perfect line of sight to all three. Emry couldn't see it, but knew her wand was hidden behind her leg.

The Black sisters were still attempting to drag Malfoy towards the train, but even they stopped when Emry continued to speak.

"I'm Emry DeLavain, and this is…"

But Malfoy interrupted before she could introduce Sam, a mixture of shock and fear marring his pureblood features.

"What?" He stumbled rudely before his manners kicked in. "Emerald DeLavain? The Mageling?"

Emry smiled gently as she nodded, though she was scowling to herself on the inside. She had been counting on a pureblood such as Malfoy to have heard of her, but maybe not that much.

"Ummhmm," she said, turning to introduce Sam once again. While Emry had been playing the ditzy happy girl up until now, she decided to change over to a more prim and proper pureblood approach. Maybe it would throw Malfoy off his game a little. "And this is my friend Samantha Jade."

Malfoy had been staring, eyes wide, at Emry for a full minute before he realized Sam had been introduced as well. And then he did a double take as he recognized her.

"Samantha, of _the_ Jade's…" He muttered under his breath, recognizing the family name. It took him a moment to recover, but when he did he stood up straighter, slid his wand back into his immaculate robes, and held out his hand for the girls to shake.

"Please excuse my previous rudeness." Malfoy said politely, taking Emry's hand gently in his as if she were a delicate flower and kissing it before moving on to Sam's. "I hope you can forgive me. There are so many worthless mudbloods and muggle lovers around that it has become hard to keep them separate."

"Lucius!" The blond, Narcissa, whined, almost as if she either just didn't care, or didn't realize who the girls really were.

And unfortunately, they were both fairly well known. Emry for who she was and Sam for coming from a rather prominent pureblood family.

Malfoy shot his trampy girlfriend a glare, sufficiently silencing her. She actually flinched away from him, as if she expected him to strike her. Emry almost felt sorry for her, till she remembered who she actually was. Bellatrix, on the other hand, was actually giggling as if she was hoping Malfoy would hit her sister.

Definitely insane…

But to Emry, Malfoy held the fake smile he was trained to hold.

"I'm sorry." He apologized again.

"No worries." Emry said, still smiling as she turned with Sam to walk away. They didn't go two steps before Malfoy called out to them.

Before they turned around, Emry winked at Sam. Sam just rolled her eyes, already knowing what was going to happen, but smiled as they both turned back to face Malfoy and the Black sisters once more.

"Please, would you do me the honor of joining us? We have a compartment on the train reserved, complete with lunch and well away from the mudblood riff-raff. We would love to get to know you better." Malfoy purred. The smile on his face was politically polite. He had obviously spent time among wealthy individuals and felt comfortable playing them for fools.

Emry, however, was not a fool and could see him calculating how he could best turn this to his advantage. But while his face was trained to remain polite, Bellatrix and Narcissa were not even trying to hide their disdain.

"I'm afraid I will have to decline, but thank you." Emry said politely, knowing Malfoy would argue. This was, ironically, exactly what she wanted. The fact was that Emry had heard about Mr. Malfoy from sources other than Remus, and had never liked anything she had heard. She knew that as soon as he heard who she was, he'd be interested. To say the least, she had a dark past, one which would intrigue Malfoy greatly. But she was, by her own admission, a 'reformed' child of darkness. Regardless of that, Malfoy was an ass, and all Emry wanted to do was (figuratively) kick him in the balls. At the very least she wanted to hurt his ego.

Then she thought about all the horrible things he had done, what he stood for. It was everything she despised about her own family and, to be honest, herself. So since she had him right in front of her, and she was in such a fantastic mood, she decided to let fly and to hell with the consequences.

"You see, we may be purebloods, but we aren't so inbred that we can't socialize with muggleborns. My father might have been one of the most dangerous dark wizards North America has seen in the last century, but he is dead and I am not him. So why don't you and your little pureblood bitches go back to your private car and go fuck yourselves. Or shag or whatever the hell it is you crazy Brit's say." Emry snapped, though surprisingly calmly. She bit off each word, sharply but quietly so that her voice wouldn't travel much farther than those in front of her. Malfoy stared at her wide eyed, shocked, and probably insulted. Bellatrix looked positively venomous, most likely due to the inbred comment. But Narcissa looked only mildly put out, and that was probably only due to her precious Lucius ignoring her.

Sam, well she was actually giggling like a little school girl.

"What?" Malfoy growled, his face reverting back to the ugly scowl he had warn earlier.

"You _bloody wench_!" Bellatrix snarled, reaching into her robes to pull out her wand.

"Bellatrix right?" Emry asked, sticking her finger in Bellatrix's face only to piss her off even more. Bellatrix didn't have a chance to respond because Emry just kept speaking. "Well Trixie my dear deranged friend, you might think that I'm raining on your pureblood parade, but my IQ is over 12, and you are a psychotic bitch who should be in a mental institute.

"And you," Emry continued, turning to stick her finger in Narcissa's face, "You Ms. Cissy Black are a cold hearted statue with about as much human blood as a cold blooded frog."

"You look like one too." Sam muttered under her breath, causing Emry to burst out laughing. Together, the two of them turned and walked away, hips swaying, laughing, and care free. Emry felt good to finally give the Black sisters even an ounce of what they truly deserved. It helped that the crowd of people watching were laughing at them too.

"You whore!" Bellatrix called out.

"You will regret this." Emry heard Malfoy whisper through the crowd, so softly that she doubted any of the other students would have heard. Instead of responding, they continued walking, waving as they went.

And together their wave turned into the muggle insult of shooting them the finger.

The girls went another three steps before Emry saw all three boys eyes widen in shock. Or maybe it was fear. Emry didn't really take the time to differentiate between the two. Instead, she focused on the air that surrounded her, flowed through her lungs and fed her muscles. She channeled her mediocre gift to control the air through her body, her arm, her finger tips, and into the air itself forcing it to compress into a the thinnest plate; a shield only a few millimeters thick that surrounded Sam, the students, and herself.

Just as her shield snapped into place, the feeling as if the air pressure went up dramatically for a moment, Emry heard the distinct sizzle of a spell being absorbed and dissipated. There was a painful jolt as her shield recoiled, for a brief moment seeming as if it would crumble, but held. It had been a powerful spell, and Emry didn't think she had enough power or energy left to deflect another one like that.

She shouldn't have wasted so much energy earlier that day.

Regardless, she looked over her shoulder to see a surprised Lucius Malfoy, as well as a furious Bellatrix Black. So, just to spite them a little further, she smiled and winked at them both.

"Next time you might want to refrain from shooting at my back." Emry said so quietly that only Malfoy could hear her, and that was only because she crafted the air to carry her voice back to him. "There's a new mage in town. I'd watch your back Mr. Malfoy."

The two girls continued walking back to the boys, two of which (James and Sirius) looked absolutely shocked and impressed. Remus, on the other hand, just looked indifferent.

"What happened to 'flying under the radar'?" Sam asked under her breath, shooting Emry a quizzical look.

Emry shrugged, "This is me we're talkin' about Sam." Her calm face turning into a grin, "screw the radar."

* * *

><p>Sirius watched as the two girls walked back towards James, Remus, and himself; both of them smiling and happy as if they hadn't just bloody told off the biggest Slytherin thugs Hogwarts had seen in years. Emry had insulted them all and wasn't even the slightest bit concerned.<p>

And that wasn't even what had really surprised Sirius.

Malfoy, the bugger, had taken a pock shot at their backs. That in and of itself was low and pathetic. Sirius was, of course, kicking himself for not being able to help them himself, but it seems that they hadn't needed it.

Those two girls, neither over five foot seven and weighting over 120 soaking wet, hadn't been touched by the curse Malfoy had thrown.

Sirius was never the most diligent student. He was smart, sure, and naturally talented, but he never actually tried at school. At home, however, he saw, and experienced, and learned every form of dark magic there was. If he couldn't learn how to preform it, then he at least learned how to recognize it; what it was, its effects, and how to defeat it.

This, he'd never seen anything like it. It would take one hell of a wandless, non-verbal spell caster to pull that off. And it didn't look like any _protego_ he had ever seen.

He had, thought, heard about a rare group of 'people', Mages, a race who broke away from witches and wizards centuries before. They were elementalists, individuals who could control fire, air, water, and earth.

They were also thought of to be extinct.

Emry and the young woman walked back towards them, both still smiling and laughing. Sirius, being Sirius, watched both of them very carefully. The new girl, who Remus had called Samantha Jade, was striking. About five foot six, she was tall and skinny, built like a long distance runner. Long, curly blond hair, bright blue eyes, cute smile, good size chest. In short, she was strikingly beautiful in a not hooker-ish way which Sirius appreciated. Too many girls were going for the whore-ish look as of late. Sirius filed all the info away; he was a ladies man, it came with the territory.

By comparison, the other one, Emry (or the one who had knocked him on his arse not too long ago) took his breath away. Tall, vibrant blood red hair, greyish black eyes, a figure to kill for, skinny, but still curvy. But it was her eyes that had drawn Sirius' attention.

They looked older than they should have, like she had seen too much during her short life. Sirius could feel for her.

They were three steps away when he saw something. Emry's eyes; there was a pain hidden behind them that she tried to hide. Pain and weariness. Whatever she had done must have taken a lot out of her.

"Remus, please." Emry whispered as they approached. Sirius saw Remus nod out of the corner of his eye before Remus wrapped an arm around Sam. Emry's eyebrow shot up and she tried to hide the pain that must have laced her body.

Sirius risked a glance over the girls' shoulders and saw that Malfoy was still watching them; the nasty sneer still plastered on his greasy face. Emry must have been pretending to be fine, even though it looked like she was about to collapse where she stood.

So after a quick glance at Remus, who sent a nod in Emry's direction, he barked out a laugh and, rather theatrically he thought, threw his arm around her waist and pulled her close.

"I got ya." He whispered in her ear between laughs. James looked a little surprised, but laughed himself once Sirius winked at him.

Remus turned and, with his arm wrapped around Sam's shoulder, headed for the train. Sam looked over her shoulder, taking Emry's hand and smiling. Sirius followed, taking most of Emry's weight in his arms while making it look as if he was just hanging all over her.

Which wouldn't be all that hard to believe.

As he helped Emry up into the train, her shoulders leaning against his chest as she stepped up into the doorway, she whispered softly.

"Thanks you Sirius." She said through labored breaths, as if it was difficult to even stand. "But you can get your hand off of my ass before I light them on fire."

Needless to say, Sirius removed his hand.

* * *

><p>Even though Sirius' hand migrated to Emry's ass every three or four steps, she appreciated how he practically carried her through the train while still making it look like she was walking under her own power. That air crafting had taken more out of her than she had expected. Either that or she still hadn't fully recovered from her little escapade this summer. Regardless of the reason, she appreciated the help.<p>

The five of them had gone through a couple train cars before a boy stuck his head out of the last compartment. He was short and stumpy, with beady little eyes and dull brown hair. His green eyes lit up when he saw the guys, calling out to them.

"There you are! I got us a compartment." He said excitedly, bouncing up and down on his feet.

James laughed as he pushed the boy back into the compartment instead of blocking the doorway.

"Thanks Peter." James chuckled.

Peter Pettigrew, the last of Remus' friends. Or at least the ones he had told Emry and Sam about. It had been an accurate description, though it was Remus who had given it so it was understandable.

So Sirius led Emry into the compartment, sitting her down as gently as he could next to Sam before collapsing onto the bench beside her. As soon as the door closed behind Remus, Emry sighed in relief while Sam jumped up to pull her bag off the luggage rack. Tossing it haphazardly on the floor, she began strewing the contents across the floor. She muttered a curse under her breath as she shoved her arm into the depths of the bag while Remus waved a large chocolate bar in front of Emily's pale face.

"Here Emry." He said softly, taking a seat across from her.

"Ok, what did I miss?" James asked; an eyebrow rose behind his glasses.

"Yeah, what the bloody hell is going on." Sirius snapped.

"Wait, who are these people?" Peter put in from where he was hiding behind Remus.

Sam, who was now sitting on the floor of the cabin with her back against the window, surrounded by a sea of parchment, newspaper, books, sweater, and tampons, began laughing a bright and cheerful laugh. Remus added his deeper chuckle a moment later, leaving James, Sirius, and Peter staring at them both in confusion.

Emry, on the other hand, just continued stuffing her face with chocolate.

"Sorry," Sam said softly through her fading giggles, brushing her hands off on her jeans before reaching out to shake hands with each of the boys. "My name is Samantha Jade. And the chocoholic over there is Emerald DeLavain, though I wouldn't call her anything but Emry if you want to keep your eyebrows."

"Huh?" James grunted, his hand still clasping Sam's. "Wait, of _the_ 'Jade's'?"

"She's a Mage." Sirius accused, pointing the accusation at Emry and leaving the rest of the compartment speechless.

"Not bad." Emry said a moment later, wiping the chocolate from her lips and holding Sirius' gaze. "What gave it away?"

"That shield thing you did. I've never seen anything like it." He replied softly.

"Maybe we should talk about this in private." Remus said slowly, nodding in the direction of the doorway. Though it was shut, the walls were still thin.

Emry waved him off. "No worries, I've got a shield up already. No one can hear."

"Not like they won't find out soon enough anyways." Sam mumbled optimistically from her place on the floor.

"I'm still confused." Peter interrupted.

"Beginning?" Emry asked Sam, taking an apple off the floor from where it had rolled out of Sam's bag.

"Me?" Sam asked back. Emry nodded as she took a chunk out of the apple.

"Would you stop with the one word questions?" James grumbled. "It's making my head spin."

"Sorry." The two girls said together, which caused Remus and them to laugh yet again.

"Ok, where to begin." Sam muttered, thinking for a moment. "Emry and I met when we were about six when she showed up at the camp my parents run. The Jade Dragon Camp Ground."

"So you really are a Jade." James interrupted, his eyes growing wide in astonishment.

Sam raised an eyebrow in confusion, looking at Remus for an explanation. Remus, being Remus, just shrugged.

"Umm, yes." Sam responded, slightly unsure of where this was going.

"I've heard about you. Well, your family at least." He corrected. "They are a famous pureblood family that moved to the States a few generations ago. They are known for running a camp for magical kids with problems like orphans and werewolves and…" Realization dawned on his face as he looked back and forth between Sam and Remus. "Oh."

"Remus came along a couple years later." Emry confirmed with a nod.

"Ummhmm." Sam purred, smiling at how quickly James had caught on. "Emry had been living with us on and off for two years before Remus started coming to summer session. It was the first day Remus was there that we all clicked. Been friends ever since."

"Ok, story told, let's play Exploding Snaps." Emry said excitedly, clapping her hands together trying to change the subject.

Sam and Remus glared in her direction, causing her to shrink back into her seat and pick at what was left of her apple.

"Ok, so I get why you were there," James said pointing at Sam. "And you." Pointing to Remus. "But I still don't get you." He finished, watching Emry.

Emry sat still, watching her apple intently as if it was going to tell her something important. A minute passed in silence before she whispered.

"You trust them?"

She had asked her apple, but Remus answered just as softly and seriously.

"With my secret, yes."

"And with mine?"

This time Emry's eyes were focused on Remus's. All the others in the compartment were silent, most watching the conversation in confusion.

Emry knew that Remus never made a hasty decision. So when it only took him a few moments to nod his head she knew he had thought about this before. Remus was always prepared, and she knew she could trust his judgment.

"Ok." Emry said smiling.

"Ok." Remus replied solemnly.

"Oh just get on with it Em." Sam chided, smiling, passing up another chocolate bar.

Emry took the chocolate with a smirk, and then held the apple core in her outstretched hand. The boys watched her in confusion until the apple burst into flame, disintegrating it before their eyes. James had jumped off his seat in alarm, but Peter had screamed like a little girl, scrambling to try and hide behind Remus.

"You alright there?" She asked sarcastically.

"Would you sit down?" Remus grunted, pulling Peter back into the seat beside him.

"What was that?" Peter squeaked, still panicked.

Beside Emry, Sirius shook his head.

"She's a mage." He repeated, looking exasperated.

"I thought Mages went extinct years ago." James said. He looked confused still, but Emry could tell he was trying to put all of this together. It was like he was adding two plus two together and getting five.

"Nope," Sam answered, smirking herself, "They just moved to North America when the Muggles did."

"Really?" James asked. "Hmm, that explains a lot."

"I'm still lost." Peter said quietly. "What's a Mage?"

Remus spoke up before Emry could answer, which was probably a good thing; she had a habit of just snapping or being sarcastic. His answer would at least be accurate and concise.

"Mages are similar to Wizards except that they control the four elements; earth, air, water, and fire. They are similar to the Veela in that they have their own culture and do not interact with Wizards or Muggles often. They are as close to human as any Veela is, though where Veela are all love and light, the Magi are warriors. They also have their own set of laws and ruling government body.

"They appear as humans, but their magic is different from ours. It's called a crafting, when they pour energy from themselves and enforce it to affect the elements. It takes energy directly from the Mage's body, so too big of a crafting could kill them. Also, most Mages are not able to use multiple elements. It's just too hard on their bodies."

"So that whole, lighting the apple on fire thing?" James pressed.

Emry smiled again, creating a small ball of fire in the center of the compartment. It began as a sphere, but morphed through varying shapes; a heart, then a horse, an owl, a broom, and finally a wolf.

They boys watched wide eyed as the flaming wolf loped around the compartment before disintegrating into nothing once more.

"That," Sirius whispered, "was cool."

"I second that." James agreed, just as awed as his friend.

"Show off." Remus muttered, rolling his eyes warily.

"That was nothing." Sam said. "You should see her when she's pissed."

"So what can you do?" Sirius asked, waving his hands around the air in front of himself, apparently indicating what she had just done.

Emry raised an eyebrow. "What's this?" She asked, exaggerating his unique hand gestures.

"Sorry," he chuckled, "I meant what else can you do… err… craft?"

Taking another bite of the chocolate bar, Emry leaned back and softly said "Fire, earth, and a little air."

"Wait, three?" James asked, leaning forward in excitement. "I thought you said it wasn't common for a Mage to have multiple gifts."

"For an average Mage, no." Remus answered, watching Emry's scowl deepen. "But this one is talented."

Sirius watched Emry scowl for a moment before asking, "What's the problem with that? I mean, that's going to be common knowledge when you get to school. So what's the big secret?"

Emry continued to scowl, taking a viscous bite out of another apple she had ripped out of Sam's hand. Sam just smiled brightly.

"Her parents." Sam supplied when Emry wouldn't answer. Emry growled softly in complaint.

"Come on, they can't be as bad as mine?" Sirius joked, nudging Emry with his shoulder. He flinched away when Emry glared back.

Remus broke the uncomfortable silence with his deep laugh. "You'd be surprised Sirius."

"Oh yeah?" Sirius prodded, turning his shoulders to rest his arm against the back of the bench so that he could get a better look at her. "Let's hear it then."

"Your funeral." Emry shrugged nonchalantly, pulling her feet up onto the bench so she could turn and face Sirius. "I'm a half breed. Not a half blood, I wish, but a half breed. My father is a Wizard. A fairly famous wizard, actually. Marcus VanHort, you might have heard of him. He's that Dark Wizard that's been rampaging across the United States and Canada for the last ten years killing thousands." Sirius' face dropped, but Emry continued before he could say anything. "Oh, and that's not the worst of it. My mother, where I get my mage powers, is Esmeralda DeLavain; reigning Queen of the Magi."

"Bloody hell," James swore softly, effectively breaking the silence that had settled around them. "Your family's more messed up than the rest of our put together."

Emry burst into laughter, leading tiredly against the window and stretching her legs out across the bench, propping her feet up on Sirius's lap. Sirius's mouth opened and closed like a gaping fish, but recovered smoothly by pulling Emry's boots off to give her a foot message.

"Oh I could get used to this." Emry muttered, sighing contently.

"Don't." James, Remus, and Sirius all chorused.

"You know Emry," Sam said from her place on the floor, still surrounded by her things and James' feet (of which she had tied the shoelaces together already) "We thought it was bad with only one guy around. Now there's four of 'em."

"Scheiza, we're screwed." Emry replied with a smile, yelping as Sirius pinched her toe.

"No, but seriously," Emry continued, still smiling. "There's someone about to bang on the door, you all want me to drop the shield?"

"You can tell someone's coming?" James asked, leaning forward interested.

"And what shield?" Peter put in, looking around for something tangible.

Emry shook her head. "It's just a simple air crafting, compresses the air so sound doesn't move out, and no one can hear our conversation. As for the person about to bang on the door, well, you can kind of see her through the glass. And she kind of looks pissed too."

A moment later an exasperated red head slammed the door open, stomping into the trashed compartment to glare at Remus. Emry noticed that James gulped audibly, but tried to cover it with a brilliant smile.

"Potter do not start with me!" She grumbled angrily at him. Somehow James kept a smile on his face, even if his eyes said he was devastated. "Remus there you are! I've been looking all over the train for you. We were supposed to meet for the Prefects meeting ten minutes ago. Marshall thought for sure you'd been left back in London because you're never late and… Who are you?" The red head asked confused as she noticed Emry sitting with her legs still propped up on Sirius' lap and Sam sitting very un-lady-like on the floor of the compartment.

It only took a split second for Emry to answer, her expression remaining calm and serene.

"I'm Sirius' whore, here to fulfill his every whim and desire. Who the fuck are you?"

The entire compartment froze, with the exception of Sam who was trying to cover her laughter behind a box of tampons which she pretended to read the label on.

The red head looked absolutely flabbergasted, as if someone had run over her kitty and handed her the carcass. Her emerald eyes were wide, marring her otherwise very pretty face. Emry could see why James fawned all over her.

Sirius broke the silence a moment later with a loud peal of his bark-like laughter.

"I… Uhh… I'm…" The girl stuttered, still trying to take in what Emry had said. She tried to compose herself by straightening her skirt, but her mouth still opened and closed without anything comprehendible coming out.

"Oh stuff it Emry." Remus said harshly, though Emry could tell he was trying to hide his own laughter. "You know that's Lily so save the act."

Lily's shocked face turned to Remus, her voice once again working. "That's Emerald?" She gasped, pointing to the other red head in the cabin.

"Hey!" Emry snapped back. "I take offense to that!"

"Wait, you told Lily about these two but not us?" James accused, finally finding his own voice. "I'm offended too!"

"Yeah, blood hell Remus, don't you trust us?" Sirius added, now looking slightly offended as well.

Remus held up his hands as if to defend himself from the verbal onslaught. "Relax, please. Yes Lily, that is the infamous Emry, and I'm sure you'll recognize Samantha as well."

Sam waved up at Lily, who finally smiled back at her.

"Oh hi, I've heard a lot about you." Lily said, waving with a friendly smile on her face.

"See!" James snapped again, running a hand through his messy hair. Emry figured that was why it always seemed to stick up all over the place. "Bloody hell Remus, why'd you never tell us?"

Remus took a deep breath, sighing as he pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "And what would you two have done if I told you I was very close to two beautiful girls? Hmm?"

"We would have said that brothers share Remus!" Sirius said, rubbing Emry's legs where they still stretched over his lap.

"Eh!" Emry snapped, kicking Sirius in the ribs. "I am _not_ shareable."

Remus chuckled as Sirius rubbed his sore ribs. He shook his head, but stood up, indicating to Lily that they should go.

"Be careful with that one Sirius, her nickname wasn't Spitfire for nothing."

And Remus walked out of the compartment, hands shoved into his pockets and whistling a tune.

Lily paused for a moment in the doorway, looking back in at its occupants.

"Umm, nice to meet you both." She said sweetly as she walked briskly from the room.

"Wow, isn't she beautiful?" James said as he stuck his head out of the doorway to watch Lily walk down the train. Sirius only rolled his eyes while the girls giggled.

"Save it Prongs," Sirius muttered, "She's out of your league."

Sam laughed, sweetly and brightly, "Well aren't you the optimist."

Sirius shrugged, smirking a charming smile as he said, "Well my name _is_ Black."

"Ugh, give it a rest and let's play already." Emry said as she leaned over Sam to pull out a pack of Exploding Snaps cards, waving them in front of the boys as she said "Any takers?"

"Oh you are so on." James laughed.

They spent the rest of the train ride laughing and getting to know their new friends. By the end of the long trip, everyone was sporting singed eyebrows or hair except for Emry. Sirius leaned close as the others were packing up and whispered in her ear.

"You cheated."

Emry looked back at him and smiled, replying just as softly, "Always."

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you enjoyed, please leave a review :)<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi everyone,**

**Hope you enjoy this next chapter! Read and review!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 2: Let the Sorting Begin!<p>

"So that nickname of yours," Sirius prodded a few hours later. The train had pulled into Hogsmead Station not ten minutes ago, and the Marauders, Emry, and Sam were all scrounging around their compartment looking for items they had misplaced during the trip. "What was it again? Fire cracker? Spit ball?"

Sam snorted. She was still digging around to find the muggle novel she had dumped earlier. Why she had decided to dump the entire contents of her bag on the floor she still could not comprehend but it had taken her twice as long to clean up her mess.

"Eh!" Emry snapped, tossing the rest of the chocolate frog she was munching on at Sam's head. "I take offense to that." She said with a smirk.

Sam smiled, pulling her copy of the Dresden Files out from under the corner of the bench, beaming at Emry as she pulled the chocolate out of her hair and popped it in her mouth.

"Freak." Emry muttered.

"So what was it?" Sirius continued, apparently ignoring the strangeness between the girls.

"Nothing worth repeating." Emry muttered as she heaved her backpack off its place on the luggage rack, almost nailing a smirking Sirius in the face.

Sam tried to hide another giggle, but couldn't hold it in once Remus started chuckling softly behind her. Most times Sam was with Remus, he was serious, almost completely closed up. But here, where no one knew about his 'furry little problem' and those that did didn't care, he was so much more relaxed and carefree.

Remus, being the tallest, and scrawniest, reached up to pull Peter's satchel down. "You mean you haven't told them yet? I would have thought you'd have gotten it out of Emry the moment I walked out of here." He said, smiling deviously at Emry.

Of course, now Sirius and James were immensely interested in Emry, both boys blocking the doorway so she couldn't leave the crowded compartment.

"Thanks Remus, but I'm not sure it's all that interesting a story." She lied sweetly, smiling and batting her eyelashes. She really was a beautiful woman, and knew, from unfortunate experiences, how to use that to her advantage. Sirius' eyes had already glanced up and down her body multiple times and he looked like he was about to cave. James, on the other hand, apparently had eyes only for Lily so he wouldn't buy the act.

"Mate!" He snapped, smacking Sirius upside the head. James gave Sirius a strange look, then something passed between them as if they had had a whole conversation. When they turned back to Emry they were both smiling deviously again.

Emry raised an eyebrow, "Creepy."

"You don't know the half of it." Remus muttered

"Actually Emry, it's a pretty good story." Sam cut in, getting them all back on topic. She had finally found all her belongings and was hoping to get off the train before they missed their rides up to the castle.

Emry looked over her shoulder to glare at Sam, mouthing the word 'traitor'.

"Well, out with it already." James encouraged.

"Oh give it up Emry it's not that bad." Sam said. "Her nickname was Fire Cracker because when she was a kid, like eight or nine, she went through a phase where everything she touched with more than the gentlest of force would emit sparks and make a cracking sound like muggle firecrackers."

Sirius looked slightly confused, but said, "Why is that such a big deal. It's not so bad."

Emry frowned. "Oh really? Try living with the fact that whenever I walked I risked the chance of lighting the carpet of fire."

The Marauders laughed at that, James and Sirius nearly falling over they were laughing so hard.

"Seriously?" James asked between laughing and trying to get enough air into his lungs. "How many rugs did you destroy?"

Emry opened her mouth to explain, but Sam beat her to it. "Three carpets, a couch, and Cabin #12 down by the river. It was an interesting summer to say the least." She finished, seeing James and Sirius' shocked faces.

"A whole cabin?" Sirius asked in disbelief.

Emry shrugged, realizing her defeat. "It was a small cabin." She argued.

"I remember that." Remus added a moment later. "You got upset because an older girl charmed all your clothes hot pink." He said as he pushed past Sirius and James to leave the compartment. Sirius and James remained frozen in the doorway before their curiosity got the better of them and they took off after Remus. They both turned and tried to fit through the door at the same time, getting stuck and arguing with each other over who should go first until Sirius stuck his leg out and tripped James. As James was falling, he grabbed hold of Sirius' bag and pulled his friend down on top of himself. They landed in a pile on the floor in the hallway.

"Smooth boys, real smooth." Emry said as she stepped over Sirius's legs. "At least you're not on the bottom this time Sirius." She added with a wink.

Sam followed Emry and Remus out of the compartment, leaving the bickering boys on the floor to fend for themselves.

"Bloody hell Sirius, get off me, someone could see us!"

Sam shook her head; boys could be pettier than girls at times. As she stepped off the train she got her first good look at Hogsmead. It was small compared to some of the wizarding cities she had been to in Canada and the United States, but it had a homely wizarding feel that she loved. Back in Colorado, where her parents camp was, there was only one wizarding settlement, and it wasn't much more than a back alley in a nasty area of Denver. Hogsmead was totally different. Wizarding houses and stores lined the main streets away from the station and quite a few side ones. Stories built on top of each other in ways only magic could do. A few witches and wizards walked around the train station itself, but Sam could hear more life coming from the village proper.

And in the other direction Sam caught her first glimpse of Hogwarts across the Black Lake. Impressive couldn't begin to describe it. In the years Emry and Sam had been friends they had attended quite a few wizarding schools, most recently Molson's Academy for Witches and Wizards in Toronto. All forty-three of its students and teachers could have lived happily in one of the towers here with room to spare. But it seemed as if the school was never ending.

Sam glanced in Emry's direction, noticing that she was having similar thoughts.

James and Sirius barged out of the train a moment later, nearly running Sam and Emry over.

"Oi, watch it." Remus called, having caught a Third Year Emry had been knocked into. "Can you all behave while I go help the First Years?" He asked as he headed towards the front of the train. "And save me a seat on the carriage." He called over his shoulder.

"Will do Mooney!" Sirius called. "Well now, shall we find our way to the carriages?" He asked the girls, nodding towards the road where the majority of the student body was heading.

"After you." Emry said, waving her hand out in front of them to indicate that they should lead the way. Sirius puffed out his chest, smiling, and took the lead. There were a few younger girls smiling at him not far ahead, so his attention was on them. Emry took the advantage of the distraction, waving her hand in his direction.

Sam, having a vague idea of what was about to happen, held James back, rolling her eyes at the confused look he was giving her.

"Good evening ladies." Sirius called out to the girls, sauntering up to them. As Emry waved her hand, a small tree root rose out from between the cobble stones, just high enough to catch on Sirius' toes.

Sirius fell to the ground with a loud 'thwack', landing completely on his face in the middle of the road.

Emry immediately burst into laughter, but was soon followed enthusiastically by James and Peter. Even Sam couldn't help laughing as the girls rushed over to help Sirius up. Not that he would have it.

"Watch out for the tree roots." Emry managed to get out, walking up to him and effectively shooing the giggler's away.

"Wouldn't want you to bruise that impressive ego of yours." James added, clapping his friend on the back while laughing heartily.

"Oh har har." Sirius sneered back. "Real funny James. How the bloody hell did you do that?"

James paused, looking genuinely surprised. "Padfoot, mate, I didn't do that. Honestly, it wasn't me."

"Sure, sure." Sirius grumbled as he dusted his shirt and pants off. "Peter wouldn't have, and I doubt it was the girls. And I didn't just trip. So someone must have."

"Look it wasn't me!" James argued, taking offence to being accused. So he got into Sirius' face and shoved him back. "If it was don't you think I would have taken credit for it?"

Sirius paused for the briefest of moments. "Good point."

Emry was still chuckling under her breath as she patted Sirius' shoulder patronizingly. "It's ok Sirius, I'm a bit clumsy myself. I just cheat more often." And then she winked at him and began walking away, laughing brightly.

The two boys glanced at each other, the look of silent conversation passing between them once more before they both shrugged and said, "Naw."

"Couldn't have been her." Sirius threw in.

Sam, still shaking her head, walked up to the two boys and said gently "There's competition in town boys." Sam looked down at the root Sirius had tripped over, nudging it gently with the toe of her shoe. "Did you know Emry was kicked out of a school in Boston a few years ago because she kept making the headmistresses hair catch on fire? She said the lady reminded her of those zombies from the muggle movies, so she should look the part."

"No way!" James argued, looking thoroughly shocked. Sam shrugged her shoulders noncommittally as she walked backwards away from the now confused boys, smiling the entire way.

"Prongs, I think we've just been beat at our own game." Sam heard Sirius say morosely before they were out of her hearing range.

A few minutes later, once the boys had caught up to Sam and Emry, they rounded the bend in the road that led to where all the carriages were parked. Sam and Emry both froze in disbelief. She'd heard of thestrals, all wizarding students had, she had just never seen one in real life let alone an entire herd.

To Sam, they were a little creepy; like too little material stretched over a broken and misshaped skeleton, complete with hollow looking eyes and ribs.

"Beautiful." Emry whispered under her breath. She was completely enthralled with the creatures in front of her. Sam knew that with all the darkness in Emry's past she would be able to relate with these misunderstood creatures.

"Excuse me?" James asked.

"The thestrals." Sirius answered, looking almost somber; as if the thestrals had sucked the life right out of him. He looked like Sam felt.

"Beautiful creatures aren't they?" Came a deep booming voice from behind them. Sam nearly jumped out of her skin, but Emry seemed only distant when she turned around.

"Hey there lads." The man said, though the term was used loosely. Standing before them was certainly a man, but he was half hidden behind a few feet of hair, and was almost seven feet tall. Somewhere behind his bushy eyebrows and overgrown beard he still had a cheery expression as well as a bright smile. He must truly love these thestrals.

"I raised 'em me'self, from wee little foals they were. Beautiful creatures, though a mite misunderstood." The man continued, so thoroughly engrossed in the animals he hardly noticed the five students standing around him.

"I'm not sure I'd go that far Hagrid." Sirius said with one of his deep throated, bark-like laughs. "Though it is good to see you again."

Hagrid chuckled himself, wrapping an arm around each Sirius and James. "It's good to see you both too." Hagrid said as he squeezed the boys, both of whom gasped for air as they were crushed.

"What are you doing down here? Aren't you supposed to be getting the new First Years down to the boats?" James asked once he was able to breathe again.

"I 'as, but there's supposed to be a couple new students coming into Sixth Year an' Dumbledore wants them to get the whole experience. So I've come to bring 'em down to the docks." Hagrid explained. "You wouldn't 'ave seen 'em 'ave ya?"

The two boys exchanged smiling glances. Obviously they knew who the two new students were, they just wanted to have some fun with it.

"I don't know Sirius." James said, "Have we seen two new girls around?"

Sirius shrugged, trying to look all serious. "You would think we would have noticed them if they were good looking. They must be…"

Sirius was never able to finish that sentence. Emry had finally decided to come back to earth and she snapped her fingers, setting off what looked like Muggle firecrackers right in Sirius' face. Sam had seen the trick enough times to know it was just a minor fire crafting, but it seemed to get the boys attention. Sirius's shriek sounded like a girls cry to Sam, but she refrained from telling him that.

"I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you." Emry told them, glaring at them from behind Hagrid.

"Ahh," Hagrid chuckled happily, turning away from a now surprised Sirius and James to face Emry and Sam. "Dumbledore told me you'd be a right handful. Name's Hagrid." He continued, holding out a bear sized hand towards the girls. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

Sam returned both the warm smile and handshake, understanding why Remus had spoken so kindly of the school's new gamekeeper.

"Don't know if I've ever been called a 'hand full' before," Emry said, shaking hands with the near giant in front of her, "But it's nice to meet you."

"So I 'ear yer from the States." Hagrid continued brightly. "What brings yer all the way ter our Island?"

"Oh, you know, murderous family, people trying to kill me, the usual." Emry said, a bright smile on her face, and a shrug of her shoulder.

Sam watched as James and Sirius' faces paled in shock and Hagrid became more and more confused. They thought she was being serious; and even though Sam knew she was they didn't need to know that. Or at least Hagrid didn't.

Remus, thank the Lord, took that moment to return and covered up her blatant honesty by laughing.

"Funny Emry," he said, coming up behind her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "You're going to give James and Sirius a run for their money."

While Emry and Remus glared at each other, apparently arguing with each other silently, Sam laughed again to distract Hagrid with another story.

"Actually, Dumbledore's an old friend of the family, and with everything going on back home my parents thought it would be best if we transferred here."

Hagrid nodded as if it were the most logical thing in the world. Sam noticed, though, that neither James, Sirius, or Remus bought the story in the least. Not that she was trying to deceive them; just everyone else.

"Well we're glad to have ya here. Remus has told me all about ya." Hagrid said as he turned to head back the way they'd come. It took a moment to register before James and Sirius realized what he had said. They turned to each other, shocked, before turning on Remus.

"Does everyone know about these two?" Sirius yelled at Remus at the same time James said "Not another one!"

Remus shrugged nonchalantly, ignoring their angry glares as Hagrid called back.

"Well all'ight then, let's get you two ter the boats."

Sam watched as Emry's expression went from absolute amusement to pure terror. For all her strength and spirit, Sam knew her to be absolutely terrified of water. As far as she knew, Emry couldn't even swim.

"Wait, what?" Emry stuttered, "Boats?"

"'Course," Hagrid called, "First Years always cross the Black Lake to get ter the castle. Beautiful sight that one is."

"Don't worry Emry," Remus said encouragingly, "it's perfectly safe."

"I don't care if Merlin himself charmed the boats not to sink I **don't do water**!" She argued.

Sirius stepped up beside her to wrap an arm around her shoulder.

"What's this? Our brave Emerald is scared of a little water?"

Emry elbowed him in the stomach, though he tried to laugh it off.

"Now, there's no need ter worry yerself. Dumbledore wouldn't let yer drown yer first night here now would he?" Hagrid said gently.

Emry shook her head almost violently, digging her heels in. "I'll go back to Toronto before I get in a damn boat. Water hates me."

"Oh get over it." Sam grumbled, shoving a chuckling Sirius out of her way. "At least you don't have to swim over."

Emry's shocked eyes turned to her friend. "Oh thanks."

"You could always fly." Peter squeaked.

"Well come on." Hagrid called, directing a few first years to follow him.

"Hold on," Emry called, "You just gave me a fantastic idea. I could kiss you! Almost. Be right back."

And then the mage took off back towards the train, leaving everyone thoroughly confused.

"Umm, where is she going?" James asked, pointing after Emry.

Sirius let out another bark of laughter, clapping James on the back. "I think she's taking Peter's advice. She's going to fly over the Black Lake."

"She wouldn't do that, would she? I mean, bloody hell it's just a little water." James argued, watching Emry as she dug through the mountain of trunks that still had to be sent to Hogwarts.

"You'd be surprised what she's capable of." Remus replies, seeing Emry triumphantly wave her broom over her head before turning to follow Hagrid.

"You all have no idea." Sam added, before she herself went to join her friend.

* * *

><p>"Well, those two are strange." James said a little while later, after they had seen the fiery red head climb through a mountain of trunks to find her broomstick.<p>

"You don't know the half of it." Remus added.

Sirius, the bloody fool, was grinning from ear to ear. "I think, mates, that this is going to be a brilliant year." He said, wrapping an arm over both James' and Remus' shoulders and steering them back towards the carriages.

"Well looky here Sirius, I think you're right." James said.

Not thirty meters away, scrambling to get into a carriage, was Severus Snape.

Snivellus, as James and Sirius had affectionately nicknamed him, had been the brunt of the Marauders' jokes for years. It had started long ago, back in their First Year, simply because he was in Slytherin. But ever since he had had the gall to call Lily a Mudblood James had taken making Snivellus' life a living hell to be a personal goal of his. Nobody treated Lily that way and got away with it. And while it had become personal for James, he knew Sirius would take any possible excuse to go after Snape just for the fun of it.

They were, after all, Mauraders. Harassing Slytherins came with the territory.

"Is this really the time?" Remus, ever trying to be the voice of reason, asked.

James exchanged a glance with Sirius. "_Is he serious?_"

James had known Sirius since First Year, same as Remus and Peter had. And while Remus and Peter were his best mates, Sirius was his brother in all but blood. They could practically have conversations without ever opening their mouths.

"_It's always the right time to torment Snape._" Sirius' smirk told James.

But for Remus' sake, they both said "Yes."

Remus shrugged a shoulder, apparently deciding it was too soon in the school year to get involved.

"Ok," He replied. "I'll just go save us seats in a carriage."

"So what do you think Prongsie?" Sirius asked, his trademark smirk firmly in place. "Shall we say hello?"

"Padfoot, mate, I do believe that would be the polite thing to do."

* * *

><p>Lily could not believe her luck.<p>

First, Potter and that moronic friends of his, Black, charmed Severus' hair a rather Gryffindor shade of red. It had taken her almost ten minutes to get Severus to calm down enough to look at it and another five to figure out how to change it back.

Which led to the second bit of bad luck; by the time she was done the only remaining carriage already had occupants.

Potter and his Maurader friends.

The only slight consolation was that at least her friend Remus was there to attempt to keep them in line.

Unfortunately, that led to the third thing that went totally wrong since arriving in Hogsmead.

Potter had asked her out.

Again.

If she had a knut for every time Potter had asked her out she would never have to work a day in her life.

Though she did have to smile; he would have a hand print on his face for the feast tonight.

* * *

><p>Remus watched as the students continued to file into the Great Hall. From his vantage point, right in the middle of Gryffindor table, he could see students from all four houses begin to take their seats. The Great Hall looked like it always had. Four long tables filled the room, with a fifth for the teachers at the front. The old stone walls gave the hall a vast feeling, old and powerful. Remus always loved the large, gray stones and architecture that made up the great hall. There were carving in the stone, along the door ways and windows, which Remus thought he'd seen moving over the years. Not that he could prove it though. The vaulted ceiling was the other aspect of the Great Hall that always held his attention. Tonight, the ceiling displayed a beautiful cloudy evening, with stars twinkling out from behind the overcast skies. James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus had raced from the carriages to get here in time to get what James called 'Prime Prank Seating'. Finally Sixth Years, and upper classmen, James and Sirius felt as if they would rule the school this year. Not that Remus wanted to 'Rule the School', or that they hadn't run it in years past already. But regardless of all that, Remus was glad to be back.<p>

To be home.

A few minutes after they sat down, a couple of Ravenclaw girls in his year walked past their seats, waving and saying a quick hello. One of them, a pretty brunette named Patty Cambridge, winked at him, batting her eyelashes flirtingly.

That was new.

Normally the girls all flirted with either James or Sirius, rarely with him. Not that he'd ever let anything happen, not with his condition.

"Would you look at that Prongsie." Sirius gasped, leaning across Remus to point up at the head table, "Fresh meat!"

"I'm not sure the new teachers want to be referred to as 'Meat', fresh or otherwise." Remus replied, pushing Sirius back into his own seat.

"Probably not, but doesn't there seem to be more than normal? I see at least three." James added.

Remus realized James was right. In all the years Remus had been at Hogwarts it was odd to have one new teacher, let alone three.

"Well one must be the new Defense teacher, seeing as the last one quit before summer last year."

James and Sirius nodded in agreement, before putting their bets down on how long it would take them to scare the new teachers off. Remus ignored them once they got up to three months and seventeen galleons. Frank Longbottom took a seat across from Remus then, smiling shyly.

"Cheers Remus, good summer?" He asked.

Remus nodded, "It was, and yours?" Frank was a year above Remus and the Marauders, but was a little shy and introverted. Kind of like how Remus thought he'd have turned out if he hadn't met James and Sirius. Needless to say, Frank was one of his more 'normal' friends, along with Lily Evans.

"Alright, I guess. Mum made me get a job in Diagon Alley."

Remus opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off when the huge double doors opened and Professor McGonagall, the Head of Gryffindor House, entered, the nervous first years filing in after her.

"Who are they?" Frank asked, pointing to two students, obviously much taller and older than the other First Years.

"I think a better question is why is Emry soaking wet?" Sirius asked.

Remus had to lean backwards into the aisle to get a better view of Sam and Emry. When he did he saw not only that Emry was in fact dripping wet, but that Sam hadn't totally evaded getting splashed either.

James shrugged, "Apparently she can't fly as well as she thought."

"You all know them?" Frank asked.

Sirius nodded, "Sam and Emry. They're friends of Remus'. Ones he didn't feel the need to tell us about."

Remus only rolled his eyes at Sirius before Sam and Emry walked past their table. He caught Sam's eye, and while pointing at Emry he raised an eyebrow in silent question.

Sam winked before mouthing the words "Freaked", "Fell", and "Black Lake".

_Figures_. Remus thought with a sigh. _No wonder Em looks so pissed._

* * *

><p>It was the start of a new year, and once again Albus Dumbledore watched as the returning students filed in to take their seats. Some were busy catching up with friends they had not seen on the train, others were tucking napkins into shirt collars in preparation for the feast to come, and others still had their wands out showing off what they had learned over the summer.<p>

Dumbledore smiled fondly as he found a certain red head. It was obvious, even from his place at the front of the Hall, that she was complaining about a certain spectacled boy sitting not ten feet down the table. How he wished he could just tell her that one day they would indeed fall ridiculously in love with eachother.

Ahh, but that was part of falling in love, wasn't it? The adventure, the suspense of it all. He couldn't bring himself to deprive them of all those future memories.

His eyes traveled down a little further till he saw the boy in question along with his friends. It was obvious, too, that they were scheming; their heads bent low, mischievous glints in their eyes. Albus found it difficult not to consider these boys amongst his favorite students, since they reminded him so much of his own past self, though he tried not to treat them as such.

He could only assume they had planned a prank for this evening. The thought of a little entertainment with dinner made him smile. And though it would probably affect him as well, he reminded himself to try a little of every dessert, just in case.

Once all the students had arrived, and most were sitting, the doors to the Great Hall opened once more, this time admitting Minerva McGonagall, the Head of Gryffindor House. When Headmaster Dippet had retired years ago, and Albus had been asked to step up as the new Headmaster, they had needed someone to take over his role as the Transfiguration Teacher. Minerva, though already holding a job at the Ministry, was more than happy to come back. Recently, she has taken on the added role of Head of Gryffindor House, which she had thrived at. She always had been one of Albus' best students, and had turned into a true friend since she had become a colleague.

Behind her trailed a slew of nervous First Years. Albus couldn't help thinking how they seemed to always be younger and smaller than previous years. Though, like other years, there were a few that stood out to him. One young girl walked right behind Minerva, head held high, and ready to take on whatever might come her way with courage. Brooklynn Aldershot, a muggleborn that Albus had personally gone to see. Yes, she would do well in Gryffindor, or perhaps Ravenclaw. Another boy, smaller than most of the others, looked shy and scared. Albus knew Marcus Bagby would do brilliant here, seeing as his father was an acclaimed Auror.

Yes, Albus had seen many students come through those doors over the years. Leonard Jewkes, who went on to be a successful broom maker; Miriam Strout, a talented Healer; even a young boy from an orphanage named Tom. That was one he wished he had never went to see about attending Hogwarts. Albus had thought he could help him; but alas, it had been one of his more, detrimental, mistakes.

But he hoped, with his next small act, he might be able to undo some of that damage.

Following behind the small and terrified First Years were two young women. The first was a tall blond girl with blue eyes and a bright smile. And while it was wonderful to have the talented Samantha Jade attending Hogwarts, it was the dripping young woman behind her that Albus' hope was resting in. Long, dark red hair, curling slightly from the water, and grey eyes, she stood only a little taller than her friend. Emerald DeLavain, crowned Princess of the Magi, was a force unto herself. And, like others who had walked these halls, like Tom, she had the potential to do great things with her life. Unlike Tom, however, she had already overcome her dark past and now stood against the evil.

It was with her help Albus hoped to right his past wrongs.

* * *

><p>Emry was wet; therefore, Emry was pissed. What made it all the worse was she was dripping wet, and there were a couple hundred students pointing and staring at her.<p>

Fabulous.

"Well isn't this wonderful." Emry grumbled, trying for the tenth time to squeeze more water out of her skirt.

"You could always just use your powers. Heat your clothes dry." Sam whispered back, apparently finding the situation humorous.

"And if I don't want the whole world knowing about my powers? What the?" Emry growled back.

They had been standing at the front of the Great Hall, listening to Dumbledore give a speech about new students and other mundane issues Emry didn't feel the need to listen to, when Sam turned around to smirk at Emry.

"You are in a room, filled with hundreds of teenagers here learning magic Emry. Use your wand."

Emry stared at her blond friend for a moment, mouth open in shock.

"I could," she muttered, "If I remembered the spell…"

Sam giggled, causing the stingy old lady who had let them up from the boats to glare at them.

McDonald.

No, that wasn't right.

McGregor.

Whatever.

Emry tried to shrug the old bat off but it took Sam's beautiful smile to get her to turn her glare elsewhere.

"How is it you are here ten minutes and you've already got on one of the teachers bad sides. That's impressive." Sam whispered over her shoulder, pointing her want behind her and muttering a quick drying spell at Emry.

"Thanks Chica." Emry whispered as the old bat pulled a rickety old stool and a ratty hat onto the raised platform. Sam looked over her shoulder long enough to give Emry a confused look.

With a shrug, Emry shook her head.

When the hat began speaking though, both Emry, Sam, and the rest of the First Years jumped.

Emry chuckled, "Creepy…"

"Ahh, another year is here at last

and another batch of First Years to sort.

But where will you go, which house will I pick,

for each of the four is of great import.

"Gryffindor is filled with the brave and the strong,

those who will fight for the good and the light.

In their scarlet and gold, this might be your home,

if you are strong in mind and in might.

"Loyal and true are those of Hufflepuff

for they are the patient and just.

Yellow and black may be your new house,

surrounded by those you can trust.

"If its wisdom you value, and creativity and wit,

then Ravenclaw may be for you.

With their bronze and blue, in their tower they stay,

and work for what they think is true.

"But Slytherin, oh Slytherin,

with all their ambition and cunning.

For green and silver these wizards do wear,

new friends to whom you are coming.

"But before this sorting may truly begin,

a warning I have yet to give.

Dark times are ahead, and together you stand,

because alone you may not live.

"So for now I will leave you

with a new group of friends.

Heed what I have told you

before it all ends."

The Great Hall grew quiet after the Sorting Hat's song. Emry, already thoroughly confused, was now also a little worried. Remus had told her stories of the sorting each year, how the Hat's songs were so much fun.

This song didn't sound very fun to Emry.

When she turned to look at Sam, she saw that her friend apparently didn't appreciate the warning at the end of the song either.

"Ahem." McGonagall cleared her throat, pulling out a piece of parchment from her robes. "Aldershot, Brooklynn."

"Well that wasn't what I had expected." Sam whispered over her shoulder as the young girl was sorted into Ravenclaw. "Do you think it knows?"

Emry shrugged, watching a chubby little boy get sorted into Hufflepuff. "Probably. I mean doesn't it live in Dumbledore's office?"

"Good point." She muttered back. "Well, here goes nothing."

* * *

><p>Sirius watched the sorting without much enthusiasm. He had scoped out the First Years already, and couldn't see anyone in the group who stood out. Well, other than the two older girls awaiting their own turn.<p>

Then there was the Sorting Hat's song that had him curious. What could possibly be coming? Did it have anything to do with the girls' arrival?

Dumbledore's voice broke him out of his deep thoughts.

"Tonight, along with the new First Years, we have two new students joining our school." Dumbledore's voice filled the hall, bringing the excited students' attention back to the two girls. "Please allow me to introduce our two transfer students, Samantha Jade, and Emerald DeLavain."

Sirius watched as Emry's face twisted into a grimace. She really did hate that name apparently. But what was more noticeable were the whispers moving up and down the tables.

"That name sounds familiar." Frank whispered, trying to get a good look at the girls.

Remus shrugged, looking a little worried. Apparently this was what had Emry so worried earlier.

"Emerald is a strange name." James muttered.

"No, Jade. I know that name from somewhere." Frank said.

Sirius exchanged nervous looks with Remus and James. If people knew what Sam's family did, and knew Remus was friends with her, they might put two and two together.

"Oh well," Frank shrugged. "She is pretty though."

Sirius watched as Remus visibly relaxed. He opened his mouth to say that he agreed when Dumbledore began speaking again.

"I am sure," Dumbledore's voice boomed through the hall, bringing everyone's attention back to him. "You will all welcome them to our school, regardless of which house they will be sorted into."

With that, McGonagall pointed Sam up to the stool, where she rather gracefully sat and placed the ragged thing on her head. It looked odd, the ugly hat on such a beautiful girl. No wonder Remus couldn't keep his eyes off her.

The hat sat there for a moment, its face twisting a little before it began laughing.

"Oh, you will be trouble." The Hat said with a chuckle. "Gryffindor!"

Remus was the first Gryffindor to his feet cheering, though he wasn't the only one. The entire table jumped to their feet to cheer as she made her way to where they were sitting.

"Congratulations Sam." James hollered, pushing the Fourth Year beside him over to make room for her between Remus and himself.

"Welcome to the crew." Remus said as she sat down, giving her a quick hug. "Should have asked for Ravenclaw."

"And leave Emry with you boys? Hell no." She said with a smirk.

After a moment the hall began to quiet down once again, their attention focused on the last of the new students to be sorted. Emry looked nervous to Sirius, though he couldn't figure out why. From what he had seen of her she wasn't easily intimidated.

As she walked up the steps to the stool, she glanced quickly at Sam and Remus, and then Dumbledore, who only made the slightest of movements.

"She alright?" Sirius asked.

Remus exchanged a quick glance with Sam, but before he could say anything a loud female giggle filled the room.

Sirius turned just in time to see the old Sorting Hat, who Sirius distinctly remembered always sounding male, spin above Emrys hair before landing back on her head. And it was laughing. A high pitched, distinctly feminine, and crazy, laugh. Taking a second look, he noticed that the Sorting Hat looked different.

"What the…" Sirius muttered.

"Bloody Hell." James finished.

"Ahh, my my. It has been too long." The Hat let out a joyful laugh. "My brother dearest you have heard year after year, but now it is my turn to sing."

The Hat, which now looked and sounded very female, cleared its throat and began singing. Much to everyone's surprise it, unfortunately, sounded quite horrible.

"My oh my it's good to be back.

It's been so long since I've come out to play.

My brother, he takes all my fun away.

"Witches and Wizards and magic oh my!

My brother's specialty is what _they_ are.

But now a new mage has passed us by,

and here I am to do my job!"

"This Hat is crazy!" James whispered, "It can't even rhyme properly!"

"Probably been locked up in Dumbledore's office for too long." Sirius added.

"Mages, oh mages! A magnificent bunch.

Their own type of magic at their fingertips.

Fire and water, earth and air,

they have so much fun it just isn't fair.

"Water mages are smooth, cold as ice.

They are fighters at heart and dangerous too.

Slytherin is where these mages go.

"Fire mages are flashy and bright.

They are also prone to fight.

But these mages are not ruled by hate.

Gryffindor is where they like to be.

"Air mages are strange, different from the rest.

Knowledge and brains and flight they do like.

Ravenclaw is known to enjoy these mages,

though no one knows why.

"Last but not least are the strongest of all.

Earth mages are the pride of them all.

Strong and bold, and rarer than rare.

They keep the Hufflepuff's safe in their care.

"But oh no my time is now up.

This mage I must place in one of the houses.

Gryffindor or Slytherin, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff.

Oh well I'll just pick,

it's been so much fun!"

* * *

><p>The Great Hall was silent for a moment after the Sorting Hat's insane song. Everyone's eyes were glued to the stupid thing on Emry's head.<p>

_You stupid hat! Just put me in Gryffindor already!_ Emry mentally screamed at the hat.

_Oh but deary, there are so many places you could go! Oh, your fire powers are superb, some of the best I've ever seen! But your Earth, oh hunny, Hufflepuff could use you after all those weaklings my brother has put in there. Oh, and you've even got some air in you; why, aren't you talented! It has been such a pleasure to…_

"Would you shut up!" Emry grumbled, loud enough for the entire hall to hear.

"Oh all right then." It said sadly, "I guess its Gryffindor for…"

Once again, before the hat could finish its sentence, Emry ripped the hat off her head, dropped it rather ungracefully back on the stool, and walked down the aisle to sit between Sirius and Peter.

"Well," Dumbledore said cheerfully after Emry had taken her place, "That was lovely. I think it's time for supper. Tuck in."

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you enjoyed it! <strong>

Dinner had passed without much incident. At least, it did once Emry calmed down. She wasn't too thrilled about her introduction to Hogwarts. Remus, though trying to be supportive, was trying not to laugh.

"Oh give it up Emry, you know you like living in the spot light." Remus said, spooning some more potatoes onto his plate.

"No," Emry argued, waving her fork, still laden with carrots, in Remus' face, "I like being in the spot light when something is going on. Sitting up there like a sitting duck drives me bonkers!"

Sirius looked at her for a minute, mouth agape just as James' was.

"What?" She snapped, seeing their expression.

"For a girl who can out swear me you really use words like 'bonkers'?" Sirius asked.

Another moment of silence passed before Remus and Sam broke into laughter.

"Oh go blow it out your ass!" Emry grumbled, flinging her potatoes at Remus, while trying to stifle her own chuckle.

"There's the feisty girl who knocked me on my ass this morning." Sirius joked as they all laughed.

"Oh I'd love to hear that story." Lily added from her place a few seats down.

Remus watched as Emry and Sam dove into the story with great enthusiasm, much to Sirius' and James' disdain. It was definitely going to be an incredible year with these two around.

Dinner disappeared sometime around when Emry was laughing at the insane looks Bellatrix had given her in London.

"So then, Sam goes and shoots them the finger!" Emry laughed.

"So did you!" Sam yelled back, laughing so hard she had to lean on Remus for support.

"Ya, well, seemed like a good idea at the time." Emry replied, reaching across the table for a piece of chocolate cake.

"Emry." Remus said softly, shaking his head ever so gently, just enough to get her attention.

Emry raised an eyebrow, but left the chocolate cake on the table, and instead took a butter tart.

"So then, we headed back for the train…" Emry tried to continue her story, but Lily interrupted her.

"Wait, why'd you put that piece of cake back?" She asked, pointing to the deliciously looking piece of chocolate heaven.

Emry shrugged, "Decided I would rather have a tart. I'm watching my figure you know." She added matter-of-factly.

Remus watched as, even though Emry could lie with the best of them, she had never faced someone quite as astute and intimidating as Lily Evans when she wanted to know something.

"No, they've done something to the chocolate cake haven't they? You Marauders! I'm going to report this." Lily accused, getting up to go tell the professors.

"Lily," Remus coerced, reaching out to her. "It's just a little fun."

"Ya, can't a bloke have some fun anymore?" Sirius joked. "Besides, it's too late darling."

Lily looked around the room, searching for something to go horribly wrong with the students.

"I don't…" she stuttered.

Remus watched as her eyes widened. Following her line of sight, Remus turned to see Professor Dumbledore, talking politely to the new female teacher on his right, as his beard and hair changed from its normal silver to a vibrant pink. All along the Great Hall students' hair began turning vibrant colors, ranging from lime green, to pink, to a rather obnoxious shade of orange.

As cries of outrage floated out amongst the laughter, the four Marauders stood up and took their bow.

"Oh yes," Said James, waving to Dumbledore, "this could be an interesting year."


	3. Chapter 3

**STANDARD DISCLAIMER APPLIES...**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3: Life at Hogwarts<strong>

"Welcome to your new home!"

Sam followed an enthusiastic Lily into the Gryffindor common room, expecting to see a typical dorm room. What she saw shouldn't have surprised her, considering what the rest of the school looked like.

But it did.

The Gryffindor common room was incredible, nicer than any other dorm she had ever stayed in. The room was huge, with lots of light and two large staircases winding up the back of the room. Large overstuffed couches and arm chairs were spread around the room and in front of a huge stone fireplace. Some had tables between them where students were playing Wizards Chess or spreading out last minute summer homework. Sam was glad she liked the color red, seeing as everything was in shades of red and gold, or warm wood tones. The two spiral staircases were made of ornate, dark wood and carved with beautiful patterns. It was the large area rugs, though, that drew Sam's attention. They were gorgeous with their intricate gold and scarlet patterns, but were thick and soft. Just the kind Sam could sink her toes into or curl up on with a good book.

Sam could definitely get used to living here.

"So," Lily continued, showing them around, "What do you think?"

Sam looked over to her old friend, who seemed at home for the first time in years. Emry always had issues fitting in at schools, but for once Sam could see her being happy here. As long as she could keep them from getting kicked out.

"It's alright." Emry said with a shrug.

Sam burst out laughing at Lily's expression. It was somewhere between shocked and insulted.

"Which in Emry's world means it's pretty incredible." Sam translated.

Lily's face brightened at that, grabbing both their hands to lead (or more accurately drag) the girls up the left hand stair case.

"You have to see your new room and meet the girls. All the girls in each year are roomed together. The founders wanted to create unity within the houses, so there is a room for each year that you share for the duration of your education. Ours is on the sixth floor, so it's a lot of stairs, but the view of the grounds gets better each year." Lily continued describing the common room, dorms, the history of Gryffindor Tower, and a ridiculous number of rules as she dragged Sam and Emry up to their new room. Sam only half paid attention. Remus had been right; Lily was certainly a wealth of information.

"So this is our room." Lily finally said, opening the door to the sixth year girls' dorm room.

Just like the common room downstairs, the dorm room was decked out in gold's and scarlet's. Huge four poster beds complete with canopies and carved figurines in the dark wood were spread around the room. Even though the room was large, it filled up quickly with all the beds, trunks, and animal cages that littered the room.

As well as other girls.

Sam glanced over her shoulder to look at Emry. Over the years they had known each other, Sam had never seen Emry get close to anyone other than herself, Remus, her brother Dominic, and Jezebella. After Jessie died though, Emry had become even more closed off. Living with four other girls would be an adjustment for both of them. Sam figured Emry would spend more time out of this room than in it. While she looked outgoing and fun, Sam knew it was only an act. Emry was closed off so as to protect those she cared about.

At least that was her excuse.

Living with four other girls was going to be interesting to say the least.

Lily, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice Emry's hesitation as she began introducing them to one of the girls.

"This is Alice Brown." Lily said, introducing a pretty girl with long black hair. She smiled brightly, waving from her bed closest to the door.

"Nice to meet you." Alice said politely.

"Alice is a sweetheart," Lily told Sam and Emry, "But I wouldn't get on her bad side, she's rather talented at Defense."

As Lily was speaking Alice rolled her eyes, making a 'ya right' face.

Emry chuckled under her breath as she took the empty bed on the other side of the door, leaving Sam the bed beside hers.

"I'm really not that good, but thanks Lily." Alice answered sweetly as she continued unpacking an Appleby Arrows poster above her bed.

"Play Quidditch?" Emry asked, nodding towards the poster.

"Naw, but I do enjoy a good game." She answered, flicking her wand to add another sticking charm. "But Gryffindor has a pretty good house team with James as the captain. Do you play?"

Sam glanced at Emry to find her glancing back at her, a dangerous smile on her face.

"The big sport over in the States is Quadpot, but yes, we play a little Quidditch too," Sam said before Emry could run her mouth off.

"Oh ya?" Alice asked, now interested, "What positions? I know the team lost a couple players last year, maybe you could try out."

"I'm a beater, but Sam's a seeker." Emry supplied.

"Really!" Alice asked enthusiastically. "I always thought males made better beaters because they were stronger."

It could have been taken as an insult, but Emry apparently didn't see it that way. With a shrug, she said, "Maybe, but what I lack in strength I make up for in ferocity."

"Makes her pretty terrifying with a beaters bat." Sam added.

"Well, Sirius is Gryffindor's star beater." Another of the girls in the room spoke up.

"He has been on the team for three years already." Added a second girl.

Sam hadn't noticed the girls until now, but now that she had gotten a good look at them she kind of understood why Lily hadn't introduced them right away.

Emry would most likely call them 'Barbies', though that would be a little harsh.

They honestly weren't that pretty.

The first girl was a feisty looking blond. Meaning crazy curly blond hair; bold, badly done make up, and lots of curves. She couldn't be called pretty, but Sam figured some male would find her attractive in other ways. The second girl looked a little less sure of herself, but was slightly easier on the eyes. Mousey colored hair and brown eyes, she wasn't as tall or as thin as her friend. If she removed the makeup and obnoxious hair she might have been pretty.

Too bad they obviously had major attitude issues.

"Oh, right." Lily said, attempting to be polite. "That's Bridget MacDougal," She said, pointing to the blond, "And the other is Rachel Wright. Notably the leaders of the Sirius Black Fan Club."

_Ahh,_ Sam thought, _no wonder they bother Lily so much. Can't see practical Lily fawning over someone that much to condone a fan club._

Emry didn't look too impressed by the other two roommates, shrugging the rude comments off.

"Well, maybe I'll just have to knock Sirius off his broom." Emry said, opening her trunk to pull out a pair of Muggle basketball shorts and a black tank top and began changing out of her school robes.

"Oh I doubt that." Bridget sneered, turning back to her trunk, which happened to be filled with pictures of Sirius. If Bridget had kept watching Emry, she might have caught that she was pretty muscular under her robes.

Sam shrugged. It wasn't really any of her business, but hey, life was too short to sit on the sidelines.

"I don't know about that," Sam added, pulling her copy of the Dresden Files book out of her back pack and curling up on her bed. "She did play professionally back in Canada."

A crash from Alice's corner of the room brought everyone's eyes to the picture frame Alice had just dropped.

"Seriously?" Alice whispered in shock.

Emry shrugged while Sam pulled out her wand and whispered a quick _repairo_.

"Which team?" Alice managed as she retrieved her picture from the floor.

"Haileybury Hammers, though it was only the reserve team." Emry answered, grabbing a zippered sweater out of her trunk. "Sam was their first string seeker."

Another crash came from Alice, while Lily muttered a "Do not tell Potter or you will not survive the year."

"I doubt that." The blond sneered, apparently not believing them. Emry, thank god, kept her mouth shut, shrugged on her sweater and headed for the door.

"Your life." She said. "Thanks Lily, nice to meet you Alice. Later Sammy."

"Hasta mañana." Sam replied with a wave as Emry shut the door behind her.

"Where is she going? It's almost curfew!" Lily asked concerned. She too had changed into her pjs, though hers was a rather modest blue nightgown.

"Who cares?" Bridget sneered.

"Emry keeps her own company most of the time." Sam answered. "So, what should I know about Hogwarts?"

Alice and Lily shared a warm smile before jumping onto Sam's bed and sharing all their Hogwarts secrets.

It was late before they finally turned in for the night, but Sam found she had rather enjoyed Lily's and Alice's company.

* * *

><p>Emry headed back down to the common room after running her mouth off about Quidditch. Of all things she could have said, she just threw her best friend, let alone herself, under the proverbial bus.<p>

'_Fly under the radar' I told myself, 'keep to yourself and don't stand out'. Ya right._

Heading down the last couple steps Emry noticed that the common room was now mostly empty, seeing as it was after midnight. It wasn't cold in the common room but Emry, being a fire mage, curled up on the couch closest to the fire place anyways.

Sitting and watching a fire had always soothed Emry. Something about the flames reminded her of herself. Violent, unpredictable, chaotic. The flames spoke to her; or at least the chaotic part of her that controlled her powers.

"Can't sleep?" Came a deep voice from over her shoulder.

Emry reacted before thinking; forming a wave of fire and heat in the palm of her hand and launching it in the direction of her voice.

"Bloody hell!" Sirius yelped, ducking behind the couch.

"Oh shit, sorry Sirius." Emry called out once recognizing his voice. She kneeled on the couch, looking over the large back to make sure she had missed him. "It's not smart to startle me."

Sirius came around the couch rubbing his hair, probably to make sure it was all still there, and dropped into the seat beside Emry.

"Apparently," he muttered. "I'll have to remember that. What are you still doing up?"

Emry turned, slightly confused, until she saw the clock above the fireplace.

Two AM.

"Oh hell, guess I lost track of time." Emry muttered, rubbing at her eyes. "What's your excuse?"

Sirius laughed. From what Emry could tell, he didn't do that too often.

"Insomnia mostly." Sirius replied, "Though I like the common room at this time of night. Nice and quiet."

Emry shrugged. "Good point."

The two sat there in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts and the movements of the fire. In all of Emry's life she had guarded herself. People were not her friends, be them muggles, wizards, or mages. They all had ulterior motives. She knew Sam thought her cynical, Sam had told her so a hundred times, but it had been ingrained in her for so long. Because of that Emry had very few friends she truly trusted. Sam and Remus she had grown up with, and each of them had saved her ass before. Family was a whole other issue entirely. Most of her family wanted her dead, some had tried. Out of her rather substantial family, she only had a few she trusted. Dom was her favorite. He had taken her under his wing when no one else would see her as anything other than the half breed mutt she was.

But sitting on the couch with Sirius, she felt something she rarely did.

Happy.

Or at least content.

There was something about the young man beside her, staring at the dying flames, that she could relate to. Emry didn't know much about him, other than what Remus had told them, but all the same there was something in his eyes that reminded her of herself.

Of her own struggle.

"So what do you think of Hogwarts so far?" Sirius asked a few minutes later, trying to make conversation. "How do you like your roommates?"

Emry turned to glance at him out of the corner of her eye, both eyebrows raised in mock surprise.

"You mean those two Barbie dolls up there?" She asked with a jerk of her head towards the girls' stairway. "I'd rather sleep down here on the couch."

Sirius looked confused, and Emry realized she had used a muggle term.

"Barbies are muggle dolls, all boobs and pretty hair but no brains to speak of. Like those two upstairs; pretty but useless."

That caused Sirius to let out a bark of laughter. "Ya," he said when he had caught his breath, "That about describes those two. James has nicknamed them the Tramp Twins."

Emry snorted in laughter nodding, "Perfect." She said with a smile.

Sirius smiled back before returning his attention to the fire place once more. Emry followed suite, wondering to herself why Sirius was spending the middle of his night with her making small talk.

"So Hogwarts, eh?" She continued, "Not sure I'll ever get used to this many people."

"Ya," Sirius shrugged, "Gets pretty crazy when you're used to your space."

Emry nodded. "I've never been one for crowds; don't like watching my back that much."

She caught Sirius watching her then, a contemplative look on his face, like he was trying to figure her out. Lots of people tried to figure Emerald DeLavain out, yet most never came close.

But she thought Sirius just might.

He looked away a moment later. "Me either, though for the most part I don't think it's anything you couldn't handle." He said to the flames.

"Probably not." Emry agreed.

Silence surrounded them once again, though Emry wasn't uncomfortable. She watched the flames as she knew Sirius watched her. It wasn't the usual 'male checking chick out' look, but rather an 'I don't understand her', so she let it continue. She figured Sirius, like herself, didn't open himself up easily.

"So why Hogwarts?" He asked a little later.

"I told you on the train, needed to get out of the States for a bit." Emry said with a shrug, knowing Sirius wouldn't buy it.

"Sure, and I'm a Hippogriff rider." Sirius returned, making her laugh again. "What's really up?"

Emry watched him for a moment before answering. "I did something. It was pretty bad, so my brother thought I'd be safer out of the country for a bit. Dumbledore said he'd take me in, so we came. Nothing else to it."

Sirius nodded, not pushing her any further for which she was grateful. She wasn't quite ready to tell him her life story yet.

"Fair enough." He said as he stood up and stretched. Emry watched his athletic body, realizing for the first time that he was only dressed in a pair of pajama bottoms. She also realized why the Barbie twins fawned over him so much, he was actually quite gorgeous when he let down the arrogant front he normally wore.

"Want to see something?" he asked a little shyly, holding a hand out for her.

"If this is some cheesy pick up line you can shove it up your ass." She smirked as he led her to the staircases. He stopped by the large window, and shouldered the latch open. "You're not going to push me out of the tower or anything are you?"

"I thought you were an air mage?" he said with another laugh. "Can't you fly?"

Emry shrugged, "It's more like falling with style." She paused as he hopped up onto the window ledge. "Then crashing."

Sirius turned back to look at her, a little surprised. "You are strange."

Emry snorted again, rather unlady-like. "Look who's talking."

He paused, as if to think about it, then shrugged in agreement.

"Touché."

Sirius then dropped down to stand on a little ledge underneath the window. Turning, he reached in to help Emry out onto the think brick ledge, but she had already hopped out. It was only about six inches thick, but she had good balance from Quidditch and easily followed Sirius along the wall for about thirty feet.

"Ok, two questions." Emry called out as they made their way along the ledge.

"Shoot."

"One, where the hell _are_ you taking me?" She yelled out over the wind.

Sirius just chuckled. "Why? Are you worried?"

"Not really, just curious." She answered as she caught up to him. They had gone around the edge of the tower to where it faced one of the many roofs of Hogwarts. It was about a ten foot drop down to the roof, which continued up and away from Gryffindor Tower. If you jumped down and didn't get a good hand hold right away you could slide off the edge, then it was just a nice long drop to a bloody and painful death below.

"You'll see in a few." Was his answer. "Your other question?" He asked as he dropped down, rather clumsily; grabbing onto the shingled roof to keep from sliding. When he got his footing, he stood up, and held out a hand to help Emry down.

Instead of taking it, Emry called her powers. There was plenty of wind way up here, so she let the wind surround her and she jumped. As she fell, she focused the wind as almost a cushion below her so that she fell slowly, allowing her to land lightly on her feet.

"You cheated." Sirius muttered with a glare. "Again."

Emry smiled, trying to contain a chuckle. "What can I say, I'm good at it."

Sirius glared at her a moment longer, before his lips twitched into a smirk. With a shake of his head he asked again, "Question two?"

"Right." Emry said, following Sirius as he began climbing up the roof towards its peak. "How the hell did you find this place?"

Stopping at the peak of the roof Sirius turned to look back at her. "Lots of sleepless nights. Over the years I've explored a little. Found this in Fourth Year, and have been coming out here ever since." He continued down the other side, heading slightly to the left until he came to a flat causeway that ran for a couple hundred yards. "Nice place to go when you want to be alone. I don't think anyone else knows about it. Other than the guys, but Peter's scared of heights and James and Remus would rather the common room." Sirius explained.

"So why me?" Emry asked as they walked.

Sirius didn't answer for a minute, either lost in thought or looking for the next rooftop to take.

He finally shrugged a shoulder, then said, "Seemed like you need the solitude as much as I do."

Apparently he found their next turn, and helped Emry jump up onto the next ledge. This time, instead of following the roof top, Sirius slid down the roof and slipped off the edge.

For a moment, Emry stood there in shocked panic. To her, it looked like Sirius had just thrown himself off the roof of Hogwarts. She was just about to gather the wind once more to throw herself off after him in a mad attempt to catch him before he hit the ground when she saw his head pop up over the edge of the roof again. His arms were straining, so she figured he was barely holding himself onto the roof.

"It's not too far a drop; with your powers you shouldn't have a problem." And with a smirk, he dropped back down out of sight.

"Jack ass." Emry muttered before launching herself down the roof after Sirius. As she hit the edge of the roof she planted her feet, pushed off, and twisted in the air so that she landed crouched on her feet facing Sirius. When she looked up, she was shocked by what she saw.

It was incredible.

And it wasn't Sirius she was looking at.

Built into the edge of the wall was a little outdoor room. Not very large, it was furnished with a swinging seat, a few arm chairs, and a small table. What caught her attention, though, was the beautiful artwork carved right into the walls. Sirius already had a fire going in the small fireplace, so it was warm. There must have been spells in place to keep it safe from the weather. When Emry turned around, she saw the most beautiful view of the Black Lake, the Forbidden Forest, and even a few twinkling lights from Hogsmead.

"Nice, isn't it?"

Emry hadn't realized Sirius had walked up beside her, so she jumped a little at his voice.

"Meh," she said, smirking. "It's alright."

* * *

><p>Sirius crawled into bed around five that morning, after spending the better part of the middle of the night with Emry on the ledge. Once her shock wore off, she said she thought that it might have been one of the air mages' secret rooms, from when Mages attended Hogwarts. That had made sense to him, considering it was close to Ravenclaw Tower. He wasn't sure why he had asked her to come up there with him. Actually, he couldn't figure out what drew him to her in the first place.<p>

There was something about that girl.

Sirius had never been one to give his trust easily. Too many things had happened in his life, he had had to grow up much faster than he wanted to, or should have had to. In some ways he was broken, and he knew it. The first time he had spent the night at James' house he was shocked. He hadn't realized how screwed up his own parents were till he had seen how James' parents had treated him. There had always been a hole in him; that there was something missing. Remus explained it once, when Sirius had seriously hurt Remus last year with the Snape incident. Remus had told him that he was cold and bitter. That it wasn't his fault because of the way that he was raised, but that he was missing his heart. Everything Sirius was and all he did was just a shield.

And Remus had been right.

Remus was always right.

With Emry, Sirius had seen the same thing. She was just as closed off and hurt as he was. In some ways he thought she hid it better. Maybe it was just because she was new. But for the first time in his life he found someone he could relate to. Someone who came from the same darkness as himself.

It didn't hurt that she was easy on the eyes.

Up on the ledge the two of them had talked. Not about anything special. Mostly sharing stories and adventures from school. Emry had started laughing so hard at one of the Marauders pranks that her hair started sparking. That had just caused Sirius to laugh hard enough that he fell out of his chair.

He had spent the rest of the time lying on the floor because he had laughed at her.

Sirius didn't care though. He could be himself around her and she wouldn't care.

Near the end of their little escapade they had started talking about family. As usual, Sirius had locked up about it, not wanting to talk about his sordid past.

And she just let him be. Sitting quietly till he got his own emotions under control.

Growing up as Sirius had, he wasn't used to people caring. The guys did; James had heard all about his horrible past, and Remus knew a lot too. The first in his family not to be sorted into Slytherin, Sirius had to learn the hard way that he wasn't as perfect and right as he was brought up to believe. Pure bloods were not all they were cracked up to be. James had taught him that, with his obsession with a muggleborn. Lily was annoying, sure, but she was brilliant too. He could see why James loved her. What he could not understand was how James had rarely dated otherwise. In all their years at school, James had few girlfriends, instead waiting for when Lily would finally agree to go out with him. Not that he didn't have offers; James was probably the most popular guy in school, other than Sirius himself.

Sirius, on the other hand, had had more than his fair share of girlfriends. And quite a few conquests as well. He wasn't exactly proud of it, but during Fifth Year he had gone through a stage of seeing how many maidens he could deflower.

The number had been quite high.

He wasn't all too proud of that now though.

Sirius turned over, pulling his blanket higher up his chest. The clock beside Remus' bed read 5:30. The others would be getting up soon. But for the life of him, Sirius couldn't manage to get Emry off of his mind long enough to fall asleep. There was something about that girl; Sirius lost his composure around her. It was like he couldn't think straight with her near him. He'd always been good with women, his charm and charisma winning most of them over easily. But with her, it was like he could truly and honestly be himself. Or rather, he had to be himself, seeing as his charm didn't work on her at all. He couldn't be sure, but Sirius thought it might have something to do with their pasts. Sirius had a feeling that they had lived similar childhoods, at least so much as in the fact they could relate so easily with one another. Neither spoke much of their family, but even with few words said Sirius could understand that her pain was similar to his own.

6:10 crossed Remus' clock; then 6:20, and 6:30. Remus switched off the alarm at 6:45, getting up and heading for the boys bathroom. Sirius laid there a little longer, listening to Peter snore and James' mumblings.

"Oh Lily." James muttered.

_Bloody hell, if I ever start talking in my sleep it better be about Quidditch._ Sirius thought, dragging himself out of bed to start his first day of classes.

* * *

><p>Lily woke up extra early for her first day of classes. She double checked her bag, making sure she had sufficient parchment, quills, and all of her books. Before heading down to breakfast she made sure her school robes were in order and her Prefects Badge was pinned on neatly. Lily always looked forward to the beginning of term, but this year she thought might just be the best yet.<p>

That was as long as Potter and his friends didn't ruin it for her.

Lily Evans was ready to begin her Sixth Year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

But for as early as Lily had gotten up, one of her roommates' was already gone.

Emerald's bed was empty

Either way, Samantha and Lily decided to head down to breakfast in the Great Hall early, as to beat the rush. Alice mumbled a sleepy 'later' to their invitation to join them. But then, Alice had never been much of a morning person.

So Lily went down with her new roommate. Lily found that Sam was very much like her friend Remus; kind, smart, and funny. Not like the cruel jokes the Marauders played, but just fun to be around.

So Lily and Sam sat down at the Gryffindor table, eating breakfast and enjoying what Lily thought was a beautiful morning.

"Aww, come on." Sam said with a pout, staring at the teacup in her hand.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked, concerned for her new friend. She looked over at the teacup in Sam's hand, but couldn't see anything wrong with it.

Sam's nose crinkled up.

"It's tea."

Lily scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. What was wrong with the tea?

"Excuse me?" She asked.

"Sam isn't the greatest of morning people," Came a deep male voice from behind Lily. Remus smiled as he took a seat next to Lily. "But she manages. That worried look is for what's going to happen when Emry comes down and there is no coffee."

Lily was still confused. Remus really understood these two girls. Sam smirked, sliding down to make room for James and Sirius.

"Oh, you know us so well Remus." Sam said with a laugh. "So, what am I thinking now?" She asked, smiling brightly.

Remus watched her expression for a moment before bursting out laughing. Lily looked back and forth between her new friend and her old. She was thoroughly confused. Sirius, looking very sleepy, nudged James beside him, to see if his other half understood.

"I'm so confused." Lily said.

"Join the club Evans." Sirius muttered into his pumpkin juice. "I have a feeling these two girls will do that a lot."

"Do I even want to ask Remus?" James asked. "I have a feeling it could be a good story."

"Please no." Lily interrupted. "I'd prefer to keep my morning Marauder free if you don't mind." She added a 'shooing' motion with her hand.

Sam smiled, "Sorry Lil. We'll behave."

Lily gave her a look that said she hardly believed it, but went back to her toast without an argument.

"Speaking of trouble," Sirius asked, his mouth full of bacon, "Where is Emry?"

Lily paused. She knew Emry hadn't been in her bed when Lily got up that morning, but she had just assumed she had come down early for breakfast. But she wasn't here in the Great Hall, and Remus just said she wasn't much of a morning person. Lily hoped she hadn't gotten lost, or worse, in trouble.

Remus only shrugged, swallowing his mouthful of pumpkin juice politely before saying, "Being Emry. Don't worry, she'll be here."

"How can you be so sure?" Lily asked concerned.

Remus exchanged glances with Sam before they said, together, "Food."

"Food?"

"Girl loves to eat." Was Sam's response with a shrug.

The five Gryffindors continued their breakfast, making small talk about classes, Prefect duties, Quidditch, and pranking (much to Lily's dismay). It wasn't until they heard a large crash from the entrance hall that they looked up.

In fact, the whole school looked up.

Just in time to see Emerald DeLavain stumble into the Great Hall, kicking a piece of armor from one of the knights in the hallway back off her foot as she tried to tie her tie. She came into the room, head down, not noticing that everyone already in the Great Hall was watching her. When she did, she stopped dead, her tie tangled around her hands, and snapped. "What? Never seen someone trip before?"

Immediately all the younger students turned back to their breakfasts and Emry continued towards Lily and her friends, taking a seat between Sirius and Sam.

"Ohh coffee!" She said enthusiastically, taking the still steaming cup from in front of Sam and taking a big gulp.

Sam and Remus both called out to try and stop her, but were too late.

Lily almost laughed at the slightly horrified, slightly disgusted look on Emry's face when she realized it wasn't coffee in the mug. Slowly, Lily watched as Emry swallowed what was in her mouth, gently placed the mug down, swore under her breath, and then said nicely, "This is going to be a long year."

Sam rubbed her back gently and Remus passed a piece of toast over to Emry while James and Sirius howled in laughter.

"Need your morning coffee I take it?" Sirius asked through his laughing.

Emry shrugged, only glaring at him slightly through her smirk, "Naw, just makes me a little less bitchy when I do."

"Hence why we like keeping her fed." Sam joked.

Emry just stuck her tongue out, rather childishly Lily thought.

"So where were you this morning?" Lily asked politely, sipping at her own cup of tea.

"Running." Emry said between mouthfuls. Or, mostly between mouthfuls.

"You go running?" James asked.

"Yes," She answered. "Hey, is it safe to eat?" She asked teasingly, holding up her fork with a piece of sausage skewered on the end of it.

Remus chuckled, "Yes it is."

"Good." Emry said as she shoved the sausage into her mouth whole.

Lily smiled. While she wasn't fond of Emry's manners, she enjoyed having these two girls around who seemed very good at putting the Marauders in their place.

Lily continued her breakfast, though her excitement to begin classes kept her from eating too much. It wasn't long before the hall filled with the cries of owls. Lily looked up, a bright smile on her face. Seeing the owls bring the newspaper her first year at Hogwarts had made a lasting impression. It was the first thing that seemed normal after first experiencing all the magic. Sitting, eating breakfast, and reading the newspaper. She and her father had done that every morning since before she could actually read.

Lily watched as a small brown barn owl landed in front of her, releasing her copy of the Daily Prophet. She fed it a strip of bacon and smiled as it flew off. Across the table a large black Screech owl was perched in front of Sirius, a red envelope tied to its leg. Never in her years at Hogwarts had Lily seen Sirius worried, but she saw that emotion flash across his eyes before he hid it. Quickly, he snatched the parchment, muttered something under his breath, and then shoved the letter into his bag.

"Careful Sirius." James warned, drawing the others attention to Sirius.

Lily watched the color drain from Sirius' face. He opened his mouth once, closed it, and then with his usual confidence said "What? This is nothing."

Lily didn't even like Sirius and she knew he was lying.

"Gorfazale." Emry said, taking another spoonful of her porridge. She never even looked up as the Marauders stared her down in confusion.

"What was that?" Remus asked.

"Gorfazale," Lily found herself answering. "Is an aquatic plant found in Arctic waters and is known for its ability to freeze any living tissue it comes into contact with. It is very rare and quite valuable."

Sirius's head snapped up; he met Emry's eyes and for a moment Sirius looked elated. Then, unbeknownst to Lily, Sirius and Emry broke out into laughter, Sirius so loudly that his friends even jumped at the sound.

"Oh Em, that's brilliant." Sirius said, wiping a tear from his eye.

Emry smiled, popping the last of her toast into her mouth, nodding happily.

"What is she…" James began to ask, apparently missing what was so funny, but was interrupted before he could finish.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen." Came Professor McGonagall's voice from over Lily's shoulder. Professor McGonagall was the Transfiguration professor at Hogwarts, and one of Lily's favorite teachers, even if it wasn't her best subject. It was her teaching style and her total abhorrence for misbehavior that Lily appreciated.

"Good morning Professor." Lily said with a smile.

"Morning Professor." Remus added.

"Miss Evans, Mr. Lupin," Professor McGonagall said with a smile, handing each of them their new schedules for the year. "Potter, Black. I hope this year you finally take an interest in your studies."

Potter and Black both smiled brightly.

"Us Professor?" James feigned.

"We always try our best Professor." Sirius said with a smile.

Professor McGonagall glared at them for a moment, and then continued to hand out the timetables.

"Miss DeLavain, Miss Jade. Welcome to Hogwarts. I hope you know that I keep my students to the highest of standards, and I expect the same from you both as well." McGonagall said, handing their timetables over.

"Don't count on it." Sirius muttered, earning an elbow from Emry beside him.

Professor McGonagall noticed, but apparently decided not to respond.

"Of course Professor." Sam said with a smile. "I'll keep her in line."

Professor McGonagall smiled, then moved on, apparently happy with Sam's response.

"You just lied." Remus said, placing his schedule into his pack.

Sam shrugged. "She doesn't need to know that."

"Yet." Emry said with a smirk.

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you all enjoyed! please leave a review :)<strong>


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